Welcome Note | Reading Schedule | F.A.Q

Salutations, dear Homesong reader!

I am delighted and honored you are here today, choosing to spend your precious time and energy in this little online home away from home I’ve created for us to share. If you visiting to join the Homesong book club, perhaps it’s because you long to weave something more creative and introspective into the rhythm of your days? Perhaps you miss reading, for you used to do it pre-kids or pre-grad school or pre-marriage, and feel like now is a better time than any to pick it up again? Perhaps are a curious one, always wondering what’s hidden inside the delicate pages of those things we used to carry around before our phones rarely left our hands or pockets or purses? Or perhaps you’re here because you feel an ache inside for a slower more simpler pace, one that celebrates mindful pursuits such as taking time to read a delicious book cover to cover, and then chat about it with others who’ve taken the time to slow down and mindfully do the same?

For whatever reason you’re here, I welcome you and commend you in your courage to step outside the frantic fray of life to read and learn and grow with us, thereby weaving the collective threads of life into a more conscious tapestry of living through the connecting art of the written word. As an avid reader and lover of books myself, I could not be more thrilled to be reading alongside you! It is my greatest hope that this book club offers you a soft place to land, encouraging you to take more time to turn inward and explore your life, the lives of others, and the sacredness of natural world through the beauty of the written word.

How much will we read? We read one book per month, selected by me out of a group of books curated seasonally by you.

How and where will we discuss? We will begin reading each new book on 1st of the month, and discuss our book either as we read or when we are finished over at Goodreads. I created us a group through the COMMUNITY LINK at the top of the site! There you can find HOMESONG BOOK CLUBwhere we will gather and share. I will post questions there to discuss from time to time, along with my takeaways from the book we are reading together. As a member of this book club, you must join there and plan on discussing each book we read.

What will we read? You will receive the monthly book selection several weeks before we begin reading. I will poll the group each season on Goodreads and we will go from there! This should give you plenty of time to get or check out the book, also helping keep you accountable for checking in and following along with us. Because we are already nearing mid-March, I’ve selected our April book and it is…BRAIDING SWEETGRASS: INDIGENOUS WISDOM, SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE AND THE TEACHINGS OF PLANTS BY ROBIN WALL KIMMERER – a book that I have been wanting to read for months! What do you think? The reviews are outstanding and it looks like a beautiful read. Have you heard of it?

How else can we share? In addition to sharing over at Goodreads, I am going to do one review per book here at the end of each month, and you are more than welcome to comment on that and add your takeaways and general commentary. It will serve as a little summary for readers, and overtime, create a nice library for this Homesong community!

What about social media? Use the hashtag #homesongbookclub anytime you are sharing something from our bookclub to connect and share our book club with others!

What should I do while reading? I encourage you to underline, star, write down, or circle anything that sticks out to you while reading. You may think you’ll remember a certain paragraph or line, but chances are distractions will seep in and you won’t. Doing this as you read will help you greatly when we gather back here to chat about our books. If you are reading on a tablet, keep a fresh piece of paper nearby to write down pages, words or phrases that are meaningful to you.

Do I need to answer any journal questions? This is totally up to you. I will post several throughout the month prompting you along the way over at our Goodreads Group to answer and reflect on whenever you’re able.

When will we have our book club discussions? Throughout the month, over on Goodreads Group called: HOMESONG Book Club.

What to do if you don’t care for the book we are reading? Well, you’ve got two options:

Read it anyway. Chances are, you will learn something you didn’t know beforehand and you will enrich our discussions. I have read plenty of books that I didn’t flat out fall in love with, but they have me food for thought and challenged my perspective. Sometimes we want books that cater to our season, but other times it’s good, and even healthy, to venture outside of our comfort zone and get our hands a little dirty with something new or unexpected.

Skip and join us later. No one is going to force you to read along, so if a particular season isn’t fitting or if you really do not care to read our current selection, no worries! You can join up or take a break at any point that works best for you.

What does subscribing to your blog do? It sends all new blog posts to your inbox.

Where can I find the Homesong Book Club posts quickly? I created a tab on the home page called “Book Club” so you can find everything with one click!

[…] I read this book four years ago in our old condo overlooking the park. It was given to me by a dear friend whom I met in the restaurant industry years ago in college. She knew it was right up my alley, and she was right. It’s a meditation for cooking, eating, and living, written in the most beautiful inviting way. Tamar takes you in with her words and not only talks about meals made from humble ingredients, but also how to cook simply with whatever it is we have on hand. I think the summer months are perfect for a book like this because it can take us out of cooking ruts and present feeding ourselves in a wholesome, non-pretensious way. Adler takes things down to brass tacks and approaches food with passion and simplicity unlike anyone I’ve ever read. I hope you love this book as much as I do, and look forward to a few fun reflection questions and cooking experiments to come within the week! Our read after An Everlasting Meal for August will be two-fold: Upstream by Mary Oliver and Big Magic by Liz Gilbert. Reading for those will begin on Tuesday August 1st. September will take us into Simplicity Parenting, and Autumn more wonderful reads that you can see here. […]ReplyCancel